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Placement nephrostomy catheter (both sides) at UPMC St. Margaret
815 Freeport Road, Pittsburgh, PA · UPMC · · NPI 1790795359
$2,164.80
Cash price Discounted cash price What a hospital charges a self-pay patient who pays directly, without going through insurance — usually well below the gross charge. Example: A CT scan has a $3,200 gross charge but an $850 discounted cash price. Ask for it by name when scheduling — hospitals don't always advertise it up front.
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What you pay up front if you don't use insurance.
$3,608.00
Gross charge Gross charge (chargemaster price) The hospital's full, undiscounted list price — pulled from its internal "chargemaster" price list. Almost no one actually pays this. Example: A chest X-ray has a gross charge of $1,450. The same hospital's discounted cash price for the same X-ray is $180 — the gross charge mostly anchors negotiations, not what patients pay.
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The hospital's undiscounted list price — almost no one pays this.
$190.53 with UPMC Health Plan vs $3,411.35 with Highmark BCBS of PA — same scan, same building. Share
Negotiated rates by payer
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Negotiated rate
The price a specific insurance plan agreed to pay the hospital for a service — it varies by insurer, and even by plan within the same insurer.
Example: The same knee MRI has a negotiated rate of $904 with one insurer's PPO plan and $1,509 with another's — identical hospital, identical scan.
Full explanation →
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Negotiated rate
The price a specific insurance plan agreed to pay the hospital for a service — it varies by insurer, and even by plan within the same insurer.
Example: The same knee MRI has a negotiated rate of $904 with one insurer's PPO plan and $1,509 with another's — identical hospital, identical scan.
Full explanation →Payer ?Payer The insurance company footing the bill — Aetna, UnitedHealthcare, Medicare, and so on. Example: "Blue Cross Blue Shield" is the payer. Its negotiated rate for an MRI might be $904, while a different payer's negotiated rate for the same scan is $1,509. Full explanation → |
Plan ?Plan The specific product an insurer sells — e.g. "Blue Cross PPO 500" — which sets your deductible, coinsurance and negotiated rates. Example: Two people both insured by Aetna can owe very different amounts for the same MRI: $50 with an HMO plan's flat copay, or the full $1,200 toward a high-deductible PPO plan's unmet deductible. Full explanation → |
Negotiated rate | vs. cash |
|---|---|---|---|
| UPMC Health Plan | Commercial | $190.53 | ↓ -91% |
| Highmark BCBS of PA | Complete Blue Medicare Advantage/Freedom Blue Medicare Advantage/Security Blue Medicare Advantage | $572.01 | ↓ -74% |
| Aetna | Neighborhood Network | $909.22 | ↓ -58% |
| Aetna | Home Depot Employer Group | $988.59 | ↓ -54% |
| Aetna | NBR ASO/FI | $1,010.24 | ↓ -53% |
| Cigna | New Business ASO | $1,010.24 | ↓ -53% |
| UPMC Work Partners | Workers Comp | $1,085.28 | ↓ -50% |
| Highmark BCBS of PA | Managed Care - Social Mission | $1,273.58 | ↓ -41% |
| Aetna | EBR FI | $1,371.04 | ↓ -37% |
| Aetna | EBR ASO | $1,443.20 | ↓ -33% |
| Cigna | Commercial | $1,443.20 | ↓ -33% |
| Highmark BCBS of PA | Commercial - Social Mission Indemnity | $1,655.59 | ↓ -24% |
| UPMC Health Plan | Managed Medicare | $1,686.23 | ↓ -22% |
| Highmark BCBS of PA | Managed Care | $1,705.68 | ↓ -21% |
| PA Health & Wellness | PA Medicaid HMO | $1,984.40 | ↓ -8% |
| Aetna of PA | Medicare | $2,050.66 | ↓ -5% |
| Highmark Wholecare (prev Gateway) | Medicare | $2,109.06 | ↓ -3% |
| PA Health & Wellness | Allwell Medicare Advantage DSNP/Medicare Advantage (Allwell by Wellcare) | $2,109.25 | ↓ -3% |
| Aetna | Medicare | $2,148.31 | ↓ -1% |
| Highmark BCBS of PA | Commercial - Indemnity | $2,217.30 | ↑ +2% |
| Coventry/First Health | Commercial | $2,525.60 | ↑ +17% |
| Private Health Care Systems | PPO | $2,886.40 | ↑ +33% |
| SelectCare | Commercial | $2,886.40 | ↑ +33% |
| Humana | Commercial | $3,066.80 | ↑ +42% |
| Highmark BCBS of PA | UPMC Emergent | $3,411.35 | ↑ +58% |
| US Family Health Plan | Tricare Prime | not published by hospital | — |
| Tricare | East Region | not published by hospital | — |
Visitor-reported prices
Comments
Placement nephrostomy catheter (both sides) at other Pennsylvania hospitals
| Hospital | City | Cash price | Negotiated range |
|---|---|---|---|
| UPMC Passavant-McCandless | Pittsburgh | $2,959.80 | $183.78 – $4,193.05 |
| UPMC Mercy | Pittsburgh | $1,696.20 | $182.30 – $2,544.30 |
| UPMC Presbyterian | Pittsburgh | $3,684.00 | $186.88 – $5,219.00 |
| UPMC Northwest | Seneca | $2,483.40 | $237.66 – $3,518.15 |
| UPMC Somerset | Somerset | $5,191.20 | $197.53 – $6,489.00 |
| UPMC Williamsport | Williamsport | $4,370.40 | $993.28 – $5,827.20 |